Shawn Johnson will be there as a celebrity. And skateboard legend Tony Hawk.
China is making a big move towards improving their Action Sports.
Woodward Beijing is a Woodward partner facility located in Beijing, China. Scheduled to open in the spring of 2010, Woodward Beijing is Woodward’s first international facility. This camp will offer Skateboarding, BMX, Inline, dry land Snowboarding and Free Ski, Urban Dance, Digital Arts (Digital Photography / Video Production and Graphic Design), Music, Chinese and English language programs. …
Camp costs aren’t posted yet. But they likely will be far lower than rates in the USA. A bargain, perhaps, for athletes who may be traveling to Beijing for other reasons.
This camp is intended to operate full-time, year round, different than the North American Woodward camps which are mostly seasonal.
The Chinese government paid the $4 million or so construction costs.
Heelys are a brand of sneakers (marketed by Heelys, Inc.) that have one or more wheels embedded in each sole, similar to inline skates. Thus, the wearer can walk, run, or, by shifting their weight to their heels, roll. Generally, “Heeling” is a form of skating, and as such may not be allowed in some places, including schools.
Over one million pairs of the shoes were sold in their first year alone. Roger Adams invented and patented Heelys in 1998 while vacationing with family in California …
Needless to say, kids are taking Heelys to the vert ramp. (video)
But I prefer this innovative clip: Lawnmower and Heelys.
Yes, there are many injuries in these shoes. Pediatrics published one study in 2007. I wasn’t surprised with what they found:
… 56 girls and 11 boys with a mean age of 9.6 years. Upper limbs were the most common location of injury. Distal radius fractures were the most prevalent, followed by supracondylar fractures, elbow dislocations, and hand fractures. The majority of children suffered the injury while heeling or street gliding outdoors. Interestingly, 20% of the injuries happened while trying Heelys or Street Gliders for the first time, and 36% of the injuries occurred while learning (using 1–5 times) how to use them. None of the children used any sort of protective gear at the time of the injury. The majority of the injured children expressed their intention to continue heeling or street gliding after complete recovery from their injury. …
We’d better train kids to use them as we do with roller-skates. They are not going away.
If you’ve never been to the original, famed Woodward East, this (slightly dated) video will give you a good overview. Gymnastics, Cheer, BMX Inline, Skateboard, Snowboard, and more.
Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State University Department of Athletics is one of 11 Division I programs in the nation that has received an “A†for gender equity, in a letter dated Jan. 14, 2008 from Charles L. Kennedy, senior instructor of political science at Pennsylvania State University-York. Oregon State earned a national ranking of seventh, up from 30th the year previous.
The Gender Equity Scorecard V graded 115 universities in 11 major conferences of Division I athletics. The Scorecard staff evaluated the programs’ degree of commitment to women’s sports for the 2005-2006 academic year. The study’s criteria was based on participation, scholarship, coaches’ salaries, recruitment budget and operating expenses. The data was obtained utilizing the Chronicle of Higher Education’s study on gender equity via the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA).
Oregon State was joined in the top-11 by North Texas, Nevada, Buffalo, Stanford, Idaho, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Ball State, Utah and Toledo.
I’ve said many times before that discrimination is wrong and unethical. But that “reverse discrimination”, while still wrong, is preferable to discrimination.
What happens in arenas of sport that do not monitor gender equity as closely as does the NCAA?
First time ever, Woodward West in California is offering a WINTER CAMP for skateboarding, BMX, in-line and mountain biking. Between Christmas and New Years.
I took the Saturday afternoon off-season tour of Woodward in Pennsylvania.
It took over 90min to (briefly) tour all venues of the sprawling complex.
This was my first visit to this camp though I am almost a “regular” (2005 and 2006) at Woodward West in California.
Woodward East is an older, larger version set in rural Amish hills.
It offers programs in Skateboarding, Aggressive Skating, and BMX sports including freestyle and racing. In 2006 they added 2-weeks of Snowboard training.
Woodward started as a camp for gymnastics (boys and girls) and now offers Cheer, as well. Trampoline bunje belts are popular.
An important theme of this site is promoting career opportunities for acrobats and acrobatic coaches. The leading employer is Cirque du Soleil though the number of other options is expanding.
Career opportunities like this are a great motivator for athletes.
The Cirque du Soleil Casting team is specifically seeking artists and athletes in the following disciplines:
